The Bayelsa government on Thursday described the impression that it was owing workers between 10 and 16 months salary backlog as inacurate and insisted that outstanding obligation to its workfore was four and half months.
The state government clarified the status of indebtedness to labour in statement issued by Mr Daniel Iworiso-Markson, Bayelsa Commissioner for Information.
According to the statement, the arrears of four and half months accumulated in 2016 due to a sharp drop in the revenue profile of the state adding that following improvements in reciepts from the federation account the state has no outstanding salary in 2017 fiscal year.
It will be recalled that council workers across the eight local government areas including primary school teachers are being owed between 10 and 16 months salary backlog.
Bayelsa Deputy Governor Rear Admiral John Jonah had on November 7 announced that the state government withheld the October 2017 salary of some 4, 200 workers in the local government system acused of involvement in payroll fraud.
Messrs John Ndiomu and Tari Dounana, Chairmen of Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress respectively had challenged the state government to provide evidence for its action and prosecute those indicted as the unions would not support illegality.
The Bayelsa government further said that it had nothing to do with the salary backlog in the councils as the local governments in Bayelsa enjoyed financial autonomy.
"As a matter of state policy, the Seriake Dickson's administration does not tamper with local government allocations. This fact must be stressed because of the falsehood being peddled in some quarters that the state is owing local government workers.
"It is public knowledge that government is waging a war against an endemic payroll fraud in the civil service in Bayelsa.
"Last week, the state government in a bid to ensure a holistic Implementation of the reforms introduced by Governor, withheld the salaries of 4,200 personnel suspected to be involved in the systemic fraud in the state.
"Also, intensified efforts are being made to sanitize the system that has left the eight local government areas of the state with an unimaginable size of wage bill. The motive of the reforms is to have a wage bill with only genuine workers.
"However, state owes salary arrears of four and a half months from last year when the economic recession was at its peak.
"The government was compelled to pay half salaries at the time for six months because of the issue of paucity of funds caused by the recession. Even some of the outstanding arrears have been paid thereby reducing the figure to four and half months," the statement read in part.
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